HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-19-25 Public Comment - M. England - downtown safetyFrom:Mike England
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]downtown safety
Date:Thursday, December 18, 2025 12:08:54 PM
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Just witnessed a pedestrian getting run over by a truck on Mendenhall. The driver,
pointed north, had looked to his left upon approaching the intersection, but then
focused his attention toward oncoming traffic to the right. When it cleared, he went –
not realizing that a pedestrian had approached from his left and walked in front of his
truck.
This is what I’ve been trying to warn people about! The more signs we put up, the more
we declare that pedestrians are sacred beings to which everyone else must yield, the
less those pedestrians pay attention. And then this happens. Everywhere I go
downtown, people just waltz out into the street, without even looking. Most times,
drivers see them and slow to a stop. Every once in a while, a car has to screech to a halt,
scaring both driver and pedestrian. When I comment that the pedestrian should have
been looking, the knee-jerk response is an indignant, “They have the right-of-way!”
Of course, I say, but the right-of-way won’t unbreak a bone.
We’re all in this together. Our parents teach us to look both ways before crossing the
street. But when walking downtown, because we’ve been conditioned by a well-
meaning but ultimately misguided authority, all sensible precautions go out the window,
as we point our chins skyward and bask in the glow of our ambulatory righteousness.
And then that superior attitude becomes so commonplace, that good people blindly
follow suit, and get creamed.
I can always tell the out-of-staters. They don’t step in front of moving cars. And when
you stop for them, they wave a thank-you. Bozeman locals, on the other hand, harumph
if you don’t stop soon enough, or far enough away, for their comfort. God forbid you
don’t stop at all, even if you’re going full speed and they appear at the crosswalk
suddenly. They take it as a personal affront.
Instead of segregating pedestrians as nobility and cars as peasantry, like some kind of
movement-based caste system, how about a more sensible approach? Pedestrians
have the right of way, sure – but they should still look both ways before entering the
street, and make eye contact with drivers before stepping in front of a two-ton hunk of
steel. That’s how it works every else in the world.
--
Mike England
Editor | Outside Media Group
313 W. Mendenhall
Bozeman, MT 59715
406-582-8068
Website | Digital Edition